Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore

Singapore: Share of urban population who live in the largest city was 84.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
84.8%
Rank
3rd
of 179 regions
All-time high
89.3%
in 1980
All-time low
77.0%
in 1950
Years of data
15
1950–2020

Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore, 1950–2020

0204060801950198520201950: 77 %1955: 78.9 %1960: 83.5 %1965: 85.8 %1970: 85.8 %1975: 88.5 %1980: 89.3 %1985: 89.1 %1990: 88.6 %1995: 88.3 %2000: 87.8 %2005: 87.1 %2010: 86.5 %2015: 85.7 %2020: 84.8 %

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2020, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore stood at 84.8%.

That represents a change of down 1.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore peaked at 89.3% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 77.0%, in 1950.

Singapore ranks 3rd of 179 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 77.9% 77.0% 78.9% 2
1960s 84.7% 83.5% 85.8% 2
1970s 87.2% 85.8% 88.5% 2
1980s 89.2% 89.1% 89.3% 2
1990s 88.5% 88.3% 88.6% 2
2000s 87.4% 87.1% 87.8% 2
2010s 86.1% 85.7% 86.5% 2
2020s 84.8% 84.8% 84.8% 1

Countries ranked near Singapore

  1. 1 Bahrain 91.4% compare
  2. 2 Kuwait 87.4% compare
  3. 4 Maldives 78.3% compare
  4. 5 Solomon Islands 75.9% compare
  5. 6 Qatar 75.7% compare

See the full ranking of 179 places →

More population data for Singapore

All data for Singapore →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore?
Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Singapore was 84.8% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Singapore?
The highest recorded value was 89.3% in 1980.
What is the lowest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Singapore?
The lowest recorded value was 77.0% in 1950.
How does Singapore rank for share of urban population who live in the largest city?
Singapore ranks 3rd out of 179 regions with data for 2020.
Is share of urban population who live in the largest city rising or falling in Singapore?
Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Singapore data come from?
The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of urban population who live in the largest city. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of urban population who live in the largest city
Unit
%
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
179 places, 2,452 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Percentage of the urban population living in the country's largest city (by population). City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.